


she's my home

by fiveameyes



Category: Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda - Becky Albertalli
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Not Canon Compliant, One Shot, nora spier is Cool™
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-11
Updated: 2018-10-11
Packaged: 2019-07-29 09:56:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,654
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16261832
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fiveameyes/pseuds/fiveameyes
Summary: It started with a phone call.





	she's my home

**Author's Note:**

> there was a line in simon vs where nick said "I've been working with her for months, but she asked me not to tell you" and then i wrote 2.6k works about it, so
> 
> **not beta'd, sorry for any mistakes!

It started with a phone call. Well, officially, it started with a phone call, but really, it started with a conversation. With Simon. Barely even a conversation, truthfully. A passing of words. A fleeting statement. It started with almost nothing.

“I think Nora has a boyfriend,” Simon said one day, watching Nick and Leah play video games in his basement. 

“A boyfriend?” Leah asked, almost sounding surprised. 

“Yeah, I guess. I don’t know. I’ve heard her talking on the phone late at night about a boy, I think. I can’t tell what she’s saying, but she’s all giggly and embarrassed-sounding, and I don’t know what else it could be besides a boyfriend.”

“Maybe a girlfriend,” Leah deadpanned. Simon chuckled, but shrugged. 

“But, whatever, I don’t care if she has a boyfriend, I’m just surprised Mom hasn’t caught her yet.” 

“I don’t think she has a boyfriend,” Nick says, vaguely shaking his head. 

“You don’t?” Simon said. “Why?” 

“I don’t know?” He shrugged. “It just doesn’t seem like Nora to keep a secret boyfriend from her family.” 

“I mean, sure, but how well do you even know her?” 

Nick couldn’t argue with that. “I guess you’re right. Maybe she has a boyfriend.” 

He didn’t like how the words felt in his mouth, and he didn’t know why. 

-

But, really, it started with a phone call. 

Incoming call: Nora Spier

Nick furrowed his eyebrows. He couldn’t think of a reason why Nora would be calling him. And, he knew it wasn’t Simon calling him from Nora’s phone, because Simon doesn’t make phone calls, and he was just texting him a second ago. He thought it might have been an accident, so he waited to answer, to see if she would hang up. But she didn’t. He pressed the ‘answer’ button, laughing just a little. 

“Hello?” 

“Hey! Nick! It’s Nora.” She sounded a little breathless, and Nick was even more confused than before. He waited for her to say more, but she stayed silent. 

“Um. What’s up?” His voice cracked a small bit, and he cringed.  _ Dude, _ he thought.  _ Chill, it’s Nora. _

“Right! Uh, I need a favor. You play guitar, right?” She asked, apparently suddenly remembering why she called. 

“Yeah, I play guitar,” Nick said, talking slowly. He was still just. Really confused. 

“I need you to teach me. What are you doing right now?” 

He looked at his paused video game, and answered. 

“Nothing, I guess.” 

“Do you think you can come pick me up?” Nora’s voice was rushed, and maybe a little flustered, and Nick  _ still _ had no idea what the point of this was. 

“Sure?” But it came out as a question. One that he didn’t really know the answer to. 

“Cool! Thanks. You know where I live,” and he guessed that she was about to hang up, but he stopped her. 

“Hey--wait. Is Simon home?” He didn’t know if he would be able to answer the impending questions he would receive if his best friend found him picking up his little sister from their house.

“No, I’m not stupid,” Nora said, as if,  _ obviously, he wouldn’t be home. What kind of question is that? _

“Oh. Okay. Well, see you in like, 15 minutes.” 

“You live 5 minutes away.”

“I figured I should shower.”

There was a pause, and then a disingenuous laugh. 

“Did you really just say that? You’ve been hanging out at my house for 10 years, Nick, you don’t have to shower to see me.” Nick could hear the smile in her voice. 

“You don’t know how bad it is, Little Spier.”

Nora laughed at the nickname. He hadn’t used that one in a while.   
“Fine, _Eisner_ , take your shower. See you in fifteen.”

And then she hung up. And that was that. And then Nick was in the shower, confused, about to go pick up Nora Spier, and teach her how to play the guitar, apparently. 

-

“Hey, thanks for doing this!” Nora said as she hopped into Nick’s truck, holding her guitar. He was in awe for a moment at just how cool Nora had gotten. He remembered seeing her hide behind her mom’s legs when he was at the Spier’s, and now she’s sitting in his car with this air of confidence, holding a  _ guitar _ , wearing a Fleetwood Mac t-shirt and  _ red shorts _ and just. God. 

“When did you get so cool?” Nick blurted out, without realizing. He flushed the second after he said it, along with Nora. 

“What?” She said, with a red tint appearing on her cheeks.

“Uh-sorry,” Nick stammered. “But like, seriously. When did you get cool?” He said, still incredulous. 

“Um, I’ve  _ always _ been cool!” She laughed, having composed her embarrassment rather quickly.

Nick laughed too, and shook his head as he pulled out of the driveway. 

“Hey, where am I going, anyway?” He asked.

“Your house, I guess,” Nora shrugged. 

“Oka-ay,” he said, stretching the word out. “And why am I teaching you how to play guitar again?” 

“Well, it’s kind of a long story…” She trailed off. 

Nick shrugged. “I’ve got time, and I’ve got ears.” 

Nora rolled her eyes, but she told the story anyway. 

-

“Ok, so a G is like… this,” Nick explained, putting his hands in the correct position on his own guitar. Nora copied on hers, with only one finger out of place.

“No, see, your third finger goes on the 6th string,” he moved his wrist, showing her. She nodded softly and corrected herself.    
“Good, do you wanna play the chord pattern you have?” He asked.

Nora nodded again, looking down and playing a few measures. It was a simple tune, with a pretty basic strumming pattern, but it was unique, and it was pretty. Nick smiled. When she was done, she looked up, a faint blush on her cheeks.

“You wrote that?” He asked. 

“Yeah,” she shrugged. “I’ve written kind of a lot, but it never really sounded right because I didn’t know everything I needed to.”

“You still managed, though. It sounds great,” Nick encouraged. The blush on her cheeks grew darker. Nick smiled at how soft Nora looked.    


He looked down quickly. 

“Does Simon know you’re here?” Nick asked. 

“No, he doesn’t. And you’re not going to tell him.” 

“Okay, I’m not going to tell him. Why?”

“Because this--this band thing--it’s a secret.”

“Are we having an illicit guitar lesson right now?” 

Nora rolled her eyes and scrunched up her nose. “Illicit?” 

“Yeah, illicit. Like, forbidden, a secret, against the law of older brothers--”

“I know what illicit means, you dork!” Nora laughed. And Nick thought he liked hearing her laugh. And then Nora blushed--she seemed to do that a lot for someone who got so cool--and even though he didn’t say it out loud, it was like she knew what he was thinking. 

“Do you have a secret boyfriend?” Nick blurted out. Nora snapped her head up quickly, gaping at him. 

“Do I have a  _ what _ ?” She asked. 

“Sorry,” Nick said sheepishly. “It’s just, Simon thinks you have a boyfriend that you’re not telling him about.” 

Nora looked like a perfect blend of horrified and angry. “He told you that?” 

“Well, do you?” 

Her eyes were as wide as saucers. “No! Of course not! I can’t believe he thinks that!” Her voice was raising octaves with each sentence. 

Nick just chuckled at her. “Well, good, because if you had a secret boyfriend I might have to beat him up.” 

And, yeah. He had no idea why he said that. It just came out. He, apparently, didn’t have a filter around Nora. For some reason. And now there was kind of an awkward silence and Nora was blushing again. But, being her ridiculously cool self, she recovered wonderfully.

“So, what else you got?” She said, looking up at Nick with a challenging smile. Nick raised an eyebrow. 

“So cool,” he whispered. 

“What?” Nora said. 

“Nothing. Do you know a B7?”

“No.” 

“Here, so it’s like…” 

As Nick began to show Nora some more chords he found useful in songwriting, his mind drifted off. And Nora was really good at playing the guitar. He didn’t even think she needed lessons. But, he wasn’t going to argue. 

-

So, this became a routine. Nora would text Nick, and sometimes Nick would even text Nora, and he’d pick her up, and they’d play the guitar. Eventually it became less like a lesson on how to play, and more like a jam session with the two. Sometimes she’d get in his car and just start talking about her day, and Nick loved it every time. He kind of wanted her to never stop talking. And that thought worried him, just a little bit. 

One day, Nick dropped by the Spiers’ after school to pick the small, blond girl up, but when she got in the car, she didn’t have her guitar. And she looked sad. Much, much too sad for Nick’s liking.

“Hey,” she said, blankly. 

“Uh. Hey,” Nick replied. He wanted to ask if she was okay, but he didn’t want to cross a line, or make her uncomfortable, or offend her, or anything. So he didn’t.

“You don’t have your guitar today,” he said simply. 

“Yeah. I don’t wanna play the guitar today.” 

“What do you wanna do today, then?”

She turned her head towards him for the first time since she got in the car. “Can we just drive today? Will you just drive me around?” 

Nick hesitated, but when he looked in her eyes she just looked so  _ needy _ in the most heartbreaking way, so he nodded. 

“Yeah. Yeah, Nora, I can drive you around.” 

So he did. They drove off, in absolute silence, and Nick didn’t know where he was going, but he also knew it didn’t really matter. 

Nora was wearing a sweatshirt, and her glasses, and her hair was tied up in a bun, and it was so  _ easy _ to tell that something was wrong, but Nick didn’t want to push her. So he didn’t say a thing. But after about 15 minutes of driving in silence, Nora did. 

“I’m sorry,” she said. 

“What are you sorry for?” 

“I don’t know. This,” she gestured vaguely. “It’s weird to show up to guitar lessons without a guitar. I didn’t stop to think that maybe you had something better to do than drive your friend’s little sister around.” Her voice got quiet at the end, almost a whisper. 

“I didn’t have anything else to do. Besides, your company is nice,” he said, also quietly. 

It was raining outside, Nick noticed, as they approached a small park on the side of the road. He quickly decided to pull into the parking lot accompanying it, feeling the need to give Nora his full attention.

“Do you want to talk about it?” He asked, after a moment of silence after he had parked. 

“Talk about what?” Nora said, but her voice came out small and hurt, and Nick knew that she knew what he meant. 

“What’s making you so sad,” he answered anyway. 

He saw tears well up in Nora’s eyes. She blinked them away fast, clearly having decided to not cry in front of Nick. 

“Remember when you asked if I had a secret boyfriend?” She asked. 

Nick nodded. 

“I said no. Which, I guess that wasn’t really a lie. But it wasn’t really the truth either.” 

“What do you mean?” Nick said. He felt a flare of protectiveness for the small girl, but he suppressed the small bout of anger inside him. 

“There was a guy,” she whispered. Nick could tell she was embarrassed. But she kept talking. “There was a guy who knew I had feelings for him, and he kind of just. Let me like him, y’know? And he made me think he liked me too. But then today he just--"

She turned her head away from Nick, but he could tell she was holding back tears. On instinct, without thinking about it, not really, Nick reached his hand out and lay it on hers. Squeezing, just enough to let her know that she could talk. Nora stared at their hands for a second, and then, slowly, as if she would scare him away if she moved too fast, she turned her hand up and laced her fingers through his. And she didn’t scare him. Not enough to make him pull his hand from hers, anyway. 

“He told me he had a girlfriend. Through a text message,” she laughed bitterly. 

Nick clenched the hand that wasn’t holding Nora’s into a fist. 

“Sounds like an asshole,” he said, with as much composure as he could. He was more angry than he expected to be. More angry than he thought he should be. 

“A giant, gaping asshole. The nastiest asshole anyone has ever seen.”

Nick laughed. Like, really laughed. He threw his head back and shook his shoulders and just laughed, and then Nora was laughing, too. She giggled through her tears and she covered her mouth with her free hand and they just couldn’t stop laughing. It wasn’t even  _ that _ funny, but that didn’t matter. Because Nora was laughing. And Nick loved to hear Nora laugh. 

The next week, Nick showed up again. And this time, Nora had her guitar. And she was smiling again.

“I found a song,” she said, promptly after climbing into his truck. 

“A song?” Nick said, smiling.

“I think you’ll like it. And it’s got some cool harmonies if you wanna sing it with me. You know, for fun.” 

And the smile on her face was just so hopeful and lovely, there was nothing Nick could do but say yes. 

-

_ “ _ _ Some call love a curse, some call love a thief _

_ But she's my home  _

_ And she's as much apart for this broken heart, but see  _

_ Broken bones always seem to mend _ _ ” _

Nora was playing the guitar, and singing softly, and every so often she would look up at Nick and smile faintly with the lyrics on her lips and Nick could feel himself falling in love. He knew that’s what it was. There was no other explanation for the tug in his chest every time she blushed at something silly he said, or the smile he felt grow on his face every time she jumped in his car, or the fierce pull of hurt in his heart when she was crying next to him just one week earlier. 

He couldn’t take his eyes off of her. And, in the back of his mind, he knew this would bring up problems. He knew he’d have to tell Simon, and he knew that probably wouldn’t go over too well, and he knew it was a giant risk and he knew it was probably stupid and he knew and he knew and he knew. But when Nora stopped her fingers on the frets of the guitar, and looked up, with the softest eyes, he fell in love even more. 

“You stopped singing,” she said. 

And, in an instant, Nick leaned forward, over her guitar, and smashed his lips against hers. He felt her jump instinctively, and then melt into the kiss. Without moving his lips from hers, he moved her guitar to sit it on the floor, and put his hands on the sides of her face. She wrapped her arms around his neck, and gasped into his mouth. They kissed, and they kissed, and they kissed, until they were out of air, and Nick slowly recoiled to rest his forehead against Nora’s. He stroked her cheekbones with the pads of his thumbs, and she raised her eyes to meet his. 

Nora raised one eyebrow. 

“I take it you liked the song?” She said. 

“God,” Nick laughed, quietly. “You are so cool.”

And he pressed a kiss to her nose, and she blushed. And Nick realized that the pink of her cheeks was his new favorite color.

**Author's Note:**

> the song that's quoted (and what the title is from) is called The Devils Tears by Angus and Julia Stone :)


End file.
